Tips to make your business more efficient in 2009

With 2009 predicted by many to be "not a particularly good year" in a general economic sense, this could be a good time for small business owners to improve the efficiency of their operations - and at the same time save money.

By making efficiency savings in all areas of your business, this will not only compensate for any downturn in trade, but also set in place good practices to help ensure the longer term success of your company.

All companies, large and small, contain inefficiencies in their operations. In a small company this could be the practice of inputting sales data in to three spreadsheets instead of using a single central information store.

In another company, the addresses of past clients have not been captured effectively meaning that a one-off mailshot to people who already know your business cannot be put into action.

In finance - many small companies don't even know how much interest they receive on their business accounts.

Here are some key areas you should concentrate on in 2009 to increase efficiency and save money:

Review Your Business Bank Account

Although interest rates have plummeted in recent months, there is still a massive gulf in rates between standard business current account rates, and savings rates. Not only is it worth depositing any spare funds (including funds set aside for tax liabilities) into a high interest bearing savings account, but you can also find very competitive deals on standard business current accounts.

• Choosing a business bank deposit account
• How to keep your bank charges low
• How to switch business bank accounts

Credit Check

Now, more than ever, you need to know who you are doing business with - and if your suppliers and customers are financially healthy before doing business with them. You can do a simple credit check for around £10, less if you are intending to carry out multiple checks. Why not try Bytestart's own online credit check service?

Cash is King

Maintaining a healthy cash flow is probably the most important thing a business owner can do - particularly when credit is harder to get hold of. This can be achieved in a number of ways - from paying VAT when you get paid (the VAT Cash Accounting Scheme) to using invoice financing solutions to ensure you don't have to wait forever to get invoices paid. We have a number of helpful guides below:

• Top tips to manage bad debts and increase cash flow
• Manage your cashflow during a recession
• Essential tips for protecting your business cashflow
• Guide to invoice finance and factoring for small businesses

Follow Up Old Customers

One of your best source of prospects are people who have already done business with you. It is widely common for businesses to have poor control over customer data - particularly if it is stored in paper form. You should keep an up-to-date database of your customers' email addresses and postal addresses and remind them periodically of any special offers or promotions you can offer.

Bootstrap Marketing

There is no need to employ a full time PR agency if you don't have the budget. There are dozens of ways you can market your business effectively for literally pennies - both online and offline ways. We have several popular guides which can help you get your message across:

• 50 bootstrap marketing ideas for startups
• Bootstrapping your way to success

Get a Website

The web is still growing at a rapid rate, but many small companies still do not have a web presence. Many people would be surprised to hear that you can get online with your own company domain name and website for under £100 per year.

• Why do I need a small business website?

Optimise your Website

There's no point designing a beautiful website for your business if no-one knows about it. The most important phase of getting your company online is driving potential customers to see your website. Again, there are offline as well as online methods to achieve this - and you could yield some astonishing results if you put in the effort.

• Top 50 search engine optimisation tips
• How to build up links to your website

Re-assess all your suppliers

With everyone tightening their purse strings due to economic uncertainty, this is a great time to re-assess how much you pay for all your services and supplies. Your review can cover everything from services (broadband, utilities, office space rental) to encouraging the suppliers of any materials you use to provide discounts.

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